From the Margins of the Spice Garden Economy: Agroforestry and Gendered Practices in the Western Ghats,Karnataka

Introduction

The coronavirus pandemic has wreaked havoc in the lives and livelihoods of people in India and across the world. If one were to trace the roots of the crisis, it would lead one to the transformation, by capital, of the local environments and the sustainable farming systems. The recent environmental devastation faced in many parts of the Western Ghats, particularly the regions of Kodagu and Kerala, have brought the issue of the environment to centre stage. This has led to questions of sustainability of the development processes and the economy in relation to nature and natural systems. This article focuses on the cultural and developmental contours that have emerged in dealing with the complex relationship between conserving the environment and ensuring a sustainable livelihood in the face of the developmental projects and changed land use patterns in the Uttara Kannada region of the central Western Ghats of India. It discusses the ways in which the local communities, particularly women, deal with these issues. While taking a look at the trajectory of development in the Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka Western Ghats and the accompanying ecological change, one will focus on the gendered agroforestry practices of the home gardens and see what possible alternatives they constitute. Further one will attempt to see if they too are being co-opted by the larger, global development narrative. Finally, one will see what lessons can be learnt from the home garden agroforestry practices in the wake of the present coronavirus pandemic.

Agribusiness and Circuits of Capital

While technology, markets and trade are considered to be essential to achieve development, they have in fact led to the transformation of environments and delicately balanced nature. In order to tackle world hunger, the first green revolution was initiated to meet the ‘food’ requirements of the people. In recent years, agribusiness has been a growing phenomenon across the world. The aim of the so-called second green revolution is to meet the ‘feed’ requirements of the largescale poultry and cattle farming businesses that have taken over the world. In the name of development, a global agricultural system is promoted that is socially as well as ecologically unstable (McMichael, 2007). Agribusiness is reconstituting extraction operations that are spread across the globe and across differing scales. With the transformation of ecosystems by capital-led deforestation accompanied by peri-urban development and lack of public health support due to adjustment policies, the viral outbreaks that were earlier limited to local areas are now epidemics that spread across the globe through webs of travel and trade like the coronavirus epidemic (Castree et al., 2020; Wallace et al., 2020). In the Global South, this industrial model of agriculture and livestock production has reconfigured nature and natural systems, destabilised agricultural systems and increased their food dependency. The emergence of capitalism as a mode of production has led to the breakdown of the human–nature relationship and created an ecological rift (Foster et al., 2010; Moore, 2015; Vasan, 2018). By privileging biotechnological solutions to the diverse food cultures and land use patterns, the metabolic rift has widened, and the ecological crisis has deepened. In India too, with the introduction of the structural adjustment policies in the 1990s, small-scale farmers have had subsidies given to them withdrawn, while at the same time agribusiness is supported and microfinance systems strengthened. Further, the decline in agricultural productivity has led to a shift from growing staple food crops to export crops. One can see a similar story being played out in the Uttara Kannada district of the Western Ghats.

Areca Totas, Change in Land Use Patterns and Biodiversity Loss

The Western Ghats divide the Uttara Kannada district into two parts, the coastal plain (of five talukas) and the Malnad or up-ghat region (of six talukas), with parts of their territory stretching themselves on the sides of the Deccan Plateau (called Bayaluseeme [Eastward side]). The district of Uttara Kannada is hilly and surrounded by thick tropical monsoon forests and mountains of the Western Ghats. The Sahyadri region is the hilliest region in the district and the roads crossing the ghats only sustain human activity here. The valleys of the district are of special significance as it is here that the spice and areca gardens are cultivated. Agriculture is the main occupation of the people. The population of this region is predominantly Hindu comprising of communities such as the Bhandaris, Gramvokkaligas, Havyaks, Konkan Marathas, Goud Saraswat Brahmins, Namdhari Naiks, Shiligas, Vokkaligas, Karevokkaligas, a small percentage of Siddhis, a tribal community, and a few Muslim and Christian families.

The valleys around Yellapur, Sirsi and Siddapur are famous for their multi-layered spice gardens. Owned largely by the Havyaks, the spice gardens grow areca and spices such as the famous pepper, cardamom, cinnamon, nutmeg and fruits like banana, jackfruit and so on. Recently in March 2019, the areca (Supari)of Sirsi was awarded a geographical indication (GI) tag as well. The World Intellectual Property Organization defines GI tag as a sign used on products that have a specific geographical origin and possess qualities or a reputation that are due to that origin. The Totagars’ Cooperative Sale Society (TSS) Ltd., a Sirsi-based agricultural cooperative, is the registered proprietor of the GI ‘Sirsi Supari’. Ravish Hegde claims that ‘Sirsi Supari’ is unique in taste and differs from areca nut grown in other parts of the country due to the differences in the chemical composition of different areca nuts.

The NGO Sahyadri Parisara Vardhini conducted a detailed study of the areca-spice gardens in the region which pointed out that the traditional practices of these gardens show an excellent relationship with the environment, and that the people coexist with nature in an interesting environment friendly way. The traditional way of life of the people of the Uttara Kannada region underlines the saying that ‘biodiversity and cultural diversity cannot be separated’ (Bellekeri, 2016). Areca was grown largely by the Havyak Brahmin community in the Uttara Kannada district. Recent studies have shown that as more and more land is being encroached a more communities are getting involved in growing Areca.

Spice and areca plantations are grown in the narrow valleys of the Malnad region which is known for its heavy rainfall and dense forests. After a long-drawn struggle and negotiations (Lele & Sabherwal, 2004) with the Colonial administration, the spice garden farmers were granted certain rights over neighbouring forests known as betta lands for the collection of leaf mulch, twigs and soil for their gardens. The farmers were expected to protect the entire land area awarded and the trees and animals and birds in it from fire and to ensure that they are not harmed either by humans or animals. In many areas, bettas have been conserved very well by farmers. However, in many areas, the bettas are deteriorating due to the neglect by the government. The Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP) Task Force had identified the deteriorating condition of the bettas.

Through its spice gardens, the district provides a platform for a wide range of agro-industries and generates a lot of employment opportunities. Due to extensive research in horticulture, there has been an increase in the production of horticulture crops. Due to this, India has emerged as the world’s largest areca growing country. Cooperatives like the Totagar’s Cooperative Sale Society (TSS) Limited, started and run by the local famers, plays an important role as it monitors the growth and production of areca nut and other spices in this district. ¹ Karnataka is the largest producer of areca nut in India with around 455,000 acres (184,000 hectare) under areca nut cultivation which forms around 46% of all India total. Its contribution to total production was around 224,000 a ton that formed 47.8% of all India production in 2010–2011 (Reddy, 2013). It is important to note that areca nut cultivation is undertaken with varying extent in almost 28 out of 30 districts in Karnataka. Though the conversion of paddy lands into areca gardens is negligible in Malnad areas, in other areas of the district, farmers are converting their paddy lands into mainly areca gardens. This is not only affecting the ground water, but it is also leading to related climate changes.

Shivanand Kalve states that large-scale farmers from the down ghat areas are now growing areca as it is more profitable for them. Once grown mainly in the Malnad region, now rows of areca orchards can be seen in the coastal regions as well as Bayaluseeme (flat lands towards the Deccan Plateau) In Adike Patrike (farming magazine), Kalve states, in places like Bhadravati and Shimoga, farmers have almost stopped growing sugarcane and rice (Kalve, 2016). Eighty per cent of those farmers have started growing areca using irrigation water and sinking bore wells. Even those who were growing banana and ginger have now started growing areca. One can see areca plantations wherever one looks. The rice and ragi fields of the Bayluseeme or flat lands have been converted to areca plantations. The level ground, rich soil, ease of communication, labour availability, modern irrigation, free electricity and loan availability have encouraged this trend. There is a tremendous change happening in the river valleys of Hemavathi, Varada, Tungabhadra and Cauvery, as well as on the shores of lakes of the region, where areca is widely being grown. when asked about their community trends in converting rice lands into areca nut orchards Ganapati Bhat (personal communication) stated:

Areca plantation maintenance is less and after 6-7 years, they start getting income. In that situation, they start converting paddy land into areca plantation. If some organisation is ready to take care of that land and grow paddy, then that farmer will not convert that paddy land into areca plantation. In that situation, that farmers’-producers’ company is supporting them to grow paddy.

According to government records, 112,500 acres were under areca cultivation in 1971. In 1999, it increased to 220,000 acres. According to the data available for year 2006, the areca area covered an area of 420,000 acres. Earlier, 43.7% of the total amount of areca produced in Karnataka came from Malnad and coastal districts. But now it has changed. The major producers are in the Bayaluseeme flat lands (Kalve, 2016).

Ganesh Bhatt Upponi states, ‘With regard to encroachment, there has always been a clash in the forest areas. We treat people in a very competitive way, what we forget is that nature is extremely cooperative. People make it competitive which should not be done’ (Interviewed August 2018).

The Uttara Kannada district is experiencing a growing change in land use patterns that are reflected in the shift from the multi-layered spice garden economy to the increasing dominance of areca in the Malnad area as well as in the coastal and Bayaluseeme areas. The earlier self-sufficient economy of the Malnad region has now given way to one of dependence. This is accompanied by a lot of environmental change caused by development and infrastructure projects and tourism. These changes in its environment have resulted in increasing drought-like situations in this region which was once known as the wettest region of the Western Ghats.

Infrastructure Development Projects and Environmental Impact

The Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka known as the ‘Pepper Queen’ (Morrison & Lycett, 2016) during colonial times gradually declined in stature and, in the post-independence period, came to be known as a backward, forest district in need of ‘development’. In the early years of independence, the development dream of the nation saw the district side-lined by the government. From the late 1960s to mid-1970s, development of the district was undertaken. The district saw a number of development efforts taking place in terms of forestry programmes, hydro-electric power projects and so on, to help the growth story of India. The adverse effects of these forestry development projects as well as infrastructure development projects led to a number of protest movements by the local people in the 1970s and 1980s. Well known among them are the Appiko chaluvali (Rao, 2012) to save the forests of the Western Ghats on which the livelihood of the local communities depended, the struggle against the Bedthi–Aghanashini dam that was to submerge large areas of spice gardens and forest lands, the Kali Bachao Andolan against the damming of the Kali river and so on. These movements questioned the development efforts of the state and suggested alternatives to the model of development being followed.

With the introduction of structural adjustment policies and liberalisation of the economy in the late 1980s and early 1990s, there was a renewed emphasis on development of the district. A number of projects of national importance were initiated like the Nuclear Power plant at Kaiga, Project Seabird (the largest naval infrastructure project on west coast of India) at Karwar and so on. This led to protests as all that was saved of the forests during the Appiko movement would be lost for the Kaiga plant that was for the larger ‘national good’. Similarly, Project Sea bird for which a large area along the coast was taken over by the Indian Navy, as a slew of other development and infrastructure projects like the various dam projects on the River Kali, the four-lane highways, rail line and at present the Sagarmala project (developing Tadadi port) were started. The tourism sector has benefitted with the entry of private companies with a number of forest resorts opening up jointly with the Forest Department. In the post-liberalisation period, developmental projects shifted from forests to rivers to mines in the district and many other projects that posed a direct threat to the environment of the district.

The projects that were implemented ostensibly to develop the Uttara Kannada district came at a cost of the environment as well as the communities residing in the area. The government is working hand in glove with private parties, and hence, it is not the market forces that are at play as would have been expected but in fact the dubious or the ‘cunning’ (Randheria, 2003) role of the state that is at play (Sud, 2009).

The increasing predatory activities have led to the destruction of forests and disturbed the ecology of the mighty Western Ghats, the protection of which has been an issue of concern. The need to conserve the Western Ghats came in the wake of the Silent valley movement in Kerala in the late 1970s which was the point of inception of the Save the Western Ghats movement. Environmentalists and scholars went on a long march that covered all the six states ² that come under the Western Ghats in 100 days in 1987–1988. This exercise in creative activism happened much before the international recognition received by the Ghats in the last three decades and the articulation of a ‘biodiversity hotspot’ in 1988 (Sekhsaria, 2017). In 2010, the Ministry of Environment and Forests set up the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP) under the chairmanship of scholar and activist, Madhav Gadgil pointing to the conscious attempt to encourage the governments—central, state and local—to spread awareness regarding environmental degradation. It also reflects, since the Fourth Five Year Plan of the country, the desire to integrate the needs of development with the desire to protect the environment, emphasising sustainable development as a key feature of the development strategy of the nation since the early 1970s. (Gadgil, 2011). The WGEEP report framed over a period of 17 months, from March 2010 to August 2011, has triggered a lot of debates which even led to protests, after distorted summaries were widely spread in various languages. An important concern raised by the WGEEP report has been the emphasis on the gross domestic product (GDP) that totally ignores the ongoing depletion of natural, human and social capitals. The WGEEP report emphasises the exclusions by development and the inclusions by conservation. As the report states, one needs to ‘Develop sustainably and Conserve thoughtfully’ (cited in Gadgil, 2011, p. 39). This has to be done bearing in mind that the forests of the Uttara Kannada district are pivotal to the district, its people and their livelihoods that are largely dependent on the forests.

In 2012, the Western Ghats was declared a world Heritage site, ‘a global Biodiversity Hotspot’ by the United Nations. This had generated a lot of debate and discussion around the issues of development, sustainability and environmental conservation. Biodiversity hotspots are biogeographic areas which are rich in unique biodiversity which includes all endemic, threatened and rare species. In the Western Ghats, they have been facing serious threats of extinction from human activities and need immediate conservation measures for their sustenance. The biodiversity of the Western Ghats underpins the ecological and climatic stability of the southern states.

What is to be noted here is that, the lives and livelihoods of the people of Uttara Kannada district are intertwined with the social lives of forests and environment. The people of Uttara Kannada district are considered to be a unique environmentally conscious district. The areca nut trees are attacked by a number of insect and non-insect pest diseases like the root grub that causes damage to the tree and decline in nut yield and eventual death of the tree. It is argued that this menace is probably due to the conversion of paddy lands to areca without paying attention to the drainage systems. The way to control the pest menace is through the use of chemical pesticides. However, the farmers of Uttara Kannada are reluctant to apply chemical fertilisers and pesticides to tackle the pest menace as it will eventually affect the soil nutrition and quality (Patil, 2017). The changes in the land use patterns of the region along with the implementation of infrastructure development projects have led to the destruction of the environment and ecosystems like the Myristica swamps which are known to as the water retainers for the region. It has given rise to the dreaded Kayasnur Forest Disease (KFD) that is an epidemic endemic to the region. The current coronavirus pandemic, like the KFD, has emerged due to the industrial production of agriculture, of livestock and major changes in land use patterns. This has caused these viruses to emerge, causing enormous disruption in the lives and livelihoods of the people. The Indian state has not yet been able to come up with any solution to KFD except warning people to avoid going into the forests without an insect repellent. What is now slowly being understood is that the changes in land use patterns, the destruction of the forests and ecosystems of the region along with the implementation of the various infrastructure development projects are largely responsible for the emergence of diseases like KFD or for that matter the coronavirus (Wallace, 2020).

In the background of these changes, one would like to take a look at a lesser known but growing economy—the home garden agroforestry—that has grown in the shadow of the areca-spice garden economy of this region. The gendered practices of the home gardens run mainly by the women of the community provide the vital everyday inputs for the household in terms of vegetables, tubers, medicinal plants, fruit and flower bearing plants, enhancing household food security, nutrition and well-being. Traditional crop varieties and useful plants are conserved through these ‘living gene banks’—the home gardens maintained largely through the labour of women. Though the produce from the home gardens is high in use value it is low in terms of exchange value. It is in the context of mapping the cultural and developmental contours of this region that one tries to understand the gendered practices of the local communities. The Deremelas (flower festivals), the seed collectives, and the marketing cooperatives that women have initiated have given them a sense of empowerment and fulfilment as well as provided a source of vital inputs for the family kitchen. One attempts to examine the marginal, though crucial, initiatives of women of this district in terms of preserving the biodiversity of the region. Here probably lie the lessons to be learnt in the present coronavirus crisis that has overtaken the whole world. An attempt has also been made to analyse these gendered practices through the lens of a critical feminist political ecology perspective.

Kitchen Home Garden Agroforestry Practices of Malnad

The changing consumption patterns and market integration in the post-1990 period, it is argued, had led to the creation of new needs and had increased pressure on family finances. This had led to rampant increase in areca plantations at the cost of self-reliance and self-sufficiency. As highlighted earlier, paddy lands were converted for growing areca, and forests were encroached for areca plantations. In the Bayaluseeme areas too, there was a shift to areca plantations using irrigated production rather than depending on rainfall as in the Malnad regions.

The areca-spice gardens are a largely male-dominated agricultural economy. Men go and work in the spice gardens and the gadde (paddy lands) and are consciously involved in the harvesting and marketing procedures. Women on the other hand ‘assist’ their male counter parts in farming by providing agricultural labour during the processing of the areca nut and other spices. What they do in their own home bases is remarkable as the women of Uttara Kannada district have built their own zones of farming and gardening which are created, maintained, worked at and marketed by themselves. In order to meet their everyday consumption requirements, women began participating in large numbers in kitchen home garden farming. These kitchen gardens provide the much-needed diverse food stocks that help them tide over difficult circumstances. They have also provided for meeting the dietary needs while at the same time providing cash incomes to the women. It helped to diversify the home income.

The kitchen gardens are a fine example of how these women (belonging to Havyaka, Hallaki Vokkaligas, Naiks, Siddhis and other caste groups) assert themselves over their independent spaces. Such spaces are a blessing to the environment as well. During the fieldwork (carried out between August 2017 and January 2019), interviews of many such women who have made their own kitchen gardens and diversified into other areas too were taken.

One of our respondents, Veda Hegde of Neernalli village in Sirsi taluka says, ‘The pride is that my profession is agriculture’. She has won the Best Woman Farmer Award from Aspee Agricultural Research and Development Foundation, for the year 2006, and many other awards from government and NGOs. She owns a large dairy farm, practices high-tech dairying and is also involved in fodder and food production and Trichoderma production, grows horticulture crops and is involved in their processing.

She claims that women too are showing interest in different forms of farming these days such as apiary, vegetables and floriculture. About 10 years ago, everyone had a lot of desire to be in the cities. It is there even today, but it is changing slowly now. Nowadays, many women finish their education and get involved in agriculture. Even today’s youngsters believe that village life is good, parisara (environment) is good. They are getting involved a lot.

She started the Deremelas (Dahlia flower festivals) as she felt women must be encouraged in farming, so that they have some income in their hands too. ‘We have different kinds of flowers—like dahlia, gladioli, many varieties in the rains especially—small and big ones. When young women come here after they get married, they need income. Only when you have cash in hand is it possible to save, no? Women need encouragement! It doesn’t work for them to stay home and keep watching television’.

Veda Hegde grows lot of flowers and advertised about a Deremela for 2 days. She noticed that the people who came for the festival, were a little shy, wondering whether they could also do such a thing. She encouraged them by giving some plants to the people herself. She guided them initially and encouraged them to package and market them well. In order to create interest in agriculture among women, Vedakka said that she had trained some women whom she had personally visited and encouraged them to involve themselves in floriculture and start their own agricultural lands like she had. Many women today organise melas (festivals) in the rainy season, and she helps with the advertising.

People come from Haveri, Hangal, Siddapura, Davanagere, Shimogga too! Only from hearing about it. By evening, it’s sold out. As for the women, they have an income of 25000 INR to 30000 INR in a single day. That makes them happy no! Now they want to market at events which are organised in Sirsi. As a result, a good name is developing (Interviewed March 2018).

As Vedakka says,

it is a good vocation for women. There’s land, there’s areca tota, but in addition, there’s a side-income for them. In addition to flower plants, they also grow vegetables—beans, okra, brahmi (ondelga), which we use to make tambuli in the summers. They grow different food plants, ginger, mango, etc. They grow these in the house. If and when they take these products to the market, it’s possible to earn as even these get sold. Kokum, jackfruit trees are also grown, and there’s always some more than required in the house—Jackfruit is used to make chips, hapala (papads), etc. Women are involved a lot in this. In addition to the plants, which are sold at these melas… the women sell this as well. We’ve been doing this before Kadamba ³ Marketing too. ‘Women have to work together in the world today. Women are educated but can’t go to the city to work. Self-employment is essential today for this idea of “sukha” (happiness). (Interviewed March 2018)

Vanastree, ⁴ meaning ‘women of the forest’, is a seed saving women’s collective that was founded in the year 2001. Its objective is to preserve and promote forest garden biodiversity and small-scale food systems through the conservation of traditional seeds and tubers of the region. Based in the Malnad region, Vanastree works with the local agrarian communities for whom the wilderness, spice orchards, paddies and homesteads are closely intertwined and are a part of the way of life here. The role of women farmers and gardeners is seen as integral to the social, cultural and ecological fabric of the unique Malnad region. Vanastree highlights the fact that dynamic solutions exist in the small-scale working models in local ecosystems that challenge issues related to global food security. The seed revolution that Vanastree leads has become a vehicle for quiet but effective social change. Seeds are intrinsically linked with women’s lives. They give them the power to realise themselves and to firmly assert their critical role in social and ecological health.

A modest seed collection is maintained in Sirsi town. Rather than focusing on creating a central seed bank facility, they believe that the entire region lends itself to being a landscape-level seed storehouse. With the right inputs and energies, rural communities can maintain diversity and varietal purity as they have been doing for centuries. They strongly advocate seed sovereignty and have a universal open source seed system. Along with ensuring that the thrust on conservation is balanced by carefully planned livelihoods, Vanastree maintains a synergy connecting its research, documentation, education and training programmes. The traditional gifting and exchange of seeds remains the root of their work.

The way in which Vanastree empowers women is by providing a person in need or a group with simple practical skills that improve their condition from being unaware and exploited to a state where they are aware and in control. It can also relate to gently facilitating a process where women learn to ask questions within and without and feel a sense of identity beyond the social construct that they are a part of. Vanastree has organised a series of skill share workshops for its members since 2003. These have ranged from seed saving and storage to the value addition of gardens, fields and forest produce. In recent times, they have focussed on gender issues and building leadership skills in women. Vanastree also initiates exposure programmes in the form of study trips and annual excursions.

We interviewed women who had been associated with the NGO since a very long time. Vinoda Naik or Vinodakka of Karkolli village, a member of Vanastree, actively takes part in the seed collective that Vanastree had initiated and also works towards empowering other women and motivates them. According to her, maintaining a kitchen garden is extremely important. Adjacent to her house, she has maintained a biodiverse kitchen garden with a number of medicinal plants, vegetable plants, flowering plants and fruit trees. She has grown a wide variety of plants and vegetables that serve the purpose of their daily food consumption and also cater to the environment. She collects and saves the seeds of many varieties of beans, greens, pumpkins and gourds, brinjal, cucumbers, lady’s finger and other plants from her forest garden. She knows the character and flavour of each vegetable variety and plants their seeds year after year, keeping the tradition of food gardens and seed saving alive. She said that Vanastree’s approach towards sustainable development is different. It has a holistic approach towards kitchen gardens where they treat the entire forests as their own kitchen garden (Interviewed August 2018). Her seed collection was part of the activities encouraged by the Vanastree collective. An example of how women maintain the kitchen gardens that cater to the dietary needs of the family single handed and also assists in the process of agriculture.

Lakshmi Siddhi, an active member of Vanastree, lives 40 kms from Sirsi town deep in the forests of the Western Ghats. Her home, garden and the forests are one contiguous whole. Due to the lack of sunlight, Lakshmi specialises in growing a variety of local tubers. She extracts oil from the kokum seeds in the traditional hand method and then uses it to make a kokum butter balm. She has helped in organising many other women who are a part of Vanastree seed collective. Aware of the local dynamics and caste-driven politics, she is vocal about the issues that concern her and her community. She said Vanastree had helped her become more confident and empowered her with the ability to document her indigenous knowledge of tubers and other medicinal and edible plants (Interviewed March 2018).

Shyamala Hegde of Appikoppa, one of the founding members of Vanastree is a farmer, seed saver and excellent cook. She says that for the past few years, they have been facing a drought. Their well has almost gone dry, but they have resisted digging a bore well. Instead they have implemented water conservation methods. Earlier they would harvest 500 kg of Kokum from their trees. Now they are barely getting a yield of 50 kg. Despite the drought, she had saved a number of seeds and gourds for future use. She has written the seed song for Vanastree that she sang for us (Interviewed March 2018).

Manorama Joshi, herself a forest gardener, was involved with the setting up of Vanastree. In the early days, she would go around the nearby villages, getting women to collectivise and save seeds. They started a biodiversity mela in Sirsi and later it was replicated in Bangalore as the Malnad Mela till 2017. Now they have the Mela in Sirsi and sell the seeds and organic produce via Vanya. ⁵

The main aim of Vanya says Manorama, ‘is to enable the women of this region to make the best of the yield from their backyards’ (Interviewed March 2018). Vanya products, like seeds and traditional edibles prepared by women forest home gardeners, are stocked in various outlets in Bangalore, Goa, Chennai and Mysore. Intensive training programme is provided to select forest gardeners to equip them with a deeper understanding of seed saving, and further enable the participating women with leadership and financial skills.

Seeds are not viewed as a commodity here. Exchange and gifting of seeds are strongly encouraged. Seeds that were earlier thrown away after keeping some for one’s own garden are now sold to provide a supplementary income. This adds value to the seeds.

In our interview with Sunita Rao, the barefoot ecologist and founder of Vanastree, she said, ‘our collective Vanastree isn’t dedicated to offering a response to developmental projects as such, but it works as per the comfort of women participating in it’ (interviewed September 2017).

In March 2018, Vanastree was awarded the Nari Shakti Puraskar for its work on empowering women by the Ministry of Women and Child Development (WCD), Government of India. The Swarnavalli Matha of Sonda also recognised their efforts and gave them an award in the Matha ⁶ organised Krishi Jayanti in 2018.

From conversations with Shailaja and Malini, we found that the self-help groups initiated by the NGO Manuvikasa, ⁷ which provided them with sewing machines that have given them a source of income. Ganapati Bhatt, founder of Manuvikasa, said that they helped up to a certain point as they did not want people to become dependent on outside help; rather, they wanted them to become independent and earn their own livelihood. The women showed us the nursery of areca saplings that they started. They now sell the young areca saplings to locals who want to start an areca tota (garden). Besides this work, they also maintain kitchen gardens where they grow vegetables and flowers which they exchange with friends and family. These kitchen gardens supply the vegetables for the family, while flowers are grown for their khushi (happiness). With the help of Manuvikasa, they have also rejuvenated their small farm ponds where water is stored. This has proved useful to deal with the drought-like situation prevailing in Malnad (Interviewed September 2018).

Gender, Development and the Environment: Connecting the Dots

How does one analyse the efforts of the women and the recognition granted to their efforts to preserve the biodiversity of the region along with looking after their own needs of livelihood and food self-sufficiency? Do we understand it in terms of the essentialist ideas of ecofeminism of women’s innate closeness to nature and their special relationship with nature? Do we understand it in terms of the feminist environmental notions of paying attention to the material bases of women’s lives? Do we understand it from the perspective of critical feminist political ecology and the deconstruction of the household and denaturalisation of the relationship between environment and gender?

In most imageries of the ‘plight’ of women in the Global South, one sees the image of a woman carrying a headload of firewood on her head and a baby tied around her waist. The image conveys the message of the burdens imposed on a woman and the way she deals with multiple demands made by society and the family; that is, the double burden of work in terms of the care work within the household as well as the work done outside the household. The implication is that universally, women as a class suffer from these conditions; however, pure, selfless motive pushes them to undertake such dull, routine and repetitive tasks. They are projected as perpetual victims who are incapable of contesting their lot. This is reflected in the earlier Women in Development (WID) approach that was reformist rather than advocating fundamental structural changes. The projection of women as a universal, undifferentiated category was critiqued. As an alternative, Women and Development (WAD) emerged that was a critique of development practice and objected to the male dominated, top down approach. They argued in favour of grassroots level, women only programmes. The other alternative was Gender and Development (GAD) that critiqued the essentialist views of ‘women’ in the development literature. It emphasised the need to look at gender relations as power relations existing in specific social and political contexts. Largely, the development strategies directed at women reflected ideologies and practices that essentialised and highlighted women as possessing capacities for nurturing and self-sacrifice. Thus, women were identified as mothers and wives naturally predisposed towards nurturing and self-sacrifice reflecting ‘maternal altruism’ (Whitehead, 1981, as cited in Schroeder, 1999). Any income in women’s hands, it was argued, was directed towards household and family. Parallelly, a naturalism lies behind the association between women and the environment. Ecofeminists ⁸ argued that women have a special relationship with nature based on a shared history of exploitation and domination by Western culture and patriarchal institutions. By virtue of the work women do, their relationship with nature is characterised by reciprocity, harmony and interrelatedness. This closeness is constituted as a distinct advantage for women as it yields ‘privileged knowledge’. This idea is taken up by the development community and incorporated as the basis of development policies in the midst of ecological crises. There was a transformation from women seen as victims to women seen as full of resourcefulness and strength. However this was critiqued by the ‘feminist environmentalism’ of Bina Agarwal (1992) that highlighted a material understanding of the relation between women and the environment that is born of specific work responsibilities rather than an innate closeness with nature. The problem arises when this relationship is naturalised and essentialised and taken out of their specific contexts. This is converted into development policy and programmes that see women as assets to be harnessed in resource conservation activities. Feminist political ecology (FPE) that emerged in the 1990s endorses the critiques of feminist environmentalism and highlights the intersections of gender, race, caste and class that shape environment relations. Critiquing the essentialist lens through which a feminist analysis of environment is seen, it looks at the power relations inherent in people’s access to and control of resources. It emphasises the idea that women too can be creators, knowers and producers of knowledge. Further, issues of social equity and social justice are emphasised and focus on the imbalance of power relations. FPE helps in the gendered analysis of how knowledge is produced and the way power and politics influence the use, access and distribution of resources. It helps in a gendered analysis of grassroots environmental action (Rao, 2020).

In the Uttara Kannada region, one can see this happening though in different ways. While there is no lack of firewood and MFPs in the densely forested Uttara Kannada region of Malnad, the drought-like conditions in the recent years are worrying. Women’s knowledge of plants and the requirement of vegetables, tubers, fruits and flowers for the household are encouraged in terms of their kitchen garden agroforestry processes. Since this does not clash with the larger social sanctions, the women are encouraged to start small enterprises like growing flowers and bee keeping (that is encouraged by the Government too) and sell the produce in the market or through melas.

Given the larger sustainable developmental and biodiversity goals at the global level and the recognition granted in 2012 by the United Nations to the Western Ghats as a heritage site and a biodiversity hotspot, as well as the recognition by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) tag to the soppina bettas (Leaf manure forests), the government is also encouraging efforts by local groups and NGOs in environmental conservation. This is reflected, as pointed out earlier, in the recent recognition granted to seed collectives like ‘Vanastree’ for their efforts in biodiversity conservation in terms of the Nari Shakti Puraskar awarded to them by the Government of India in March 2018. The local Matha also encourages the efforts of the local groups like Manuvikasa, Vanastree and individual efforts of local adherents like Veda Hegde. From an FPE perspective, one can see how the power relations work where the less productive and less valued kitchen garden agroforestry practices of women are encouraged by the family and society. Seed collectives like Vanastree have brought together women of different caste, class and ethnic groups to share their embodied experiences of environmental degradation and efforts at rejuvenation. Through their collective experiences, they have come together to nurture the biodiversity of the region as well as celebrate their knowledge and experiences together.

In the context of the global coronavirus pandemic as well as the local endemic KFD, maybe listening to women’s voices and paying attention to their knowledge of local varieties of plants may show a way in dealing with this crisis.

Conclusion

The tropical deciduous forests of the Western Ghats are dynamic products of a socio-natural history. One needs to look at the present issues plaguing the region in the context of this history. Further one needs to pay attention to the local specificities such as the destruction of biodiversity of the region due to change in land use patterns with the expansion of agrarian activities, infrastructure projects or ‘culture’ at the expense of ‘nature’.. In the context of global coronavirus pandemic as well as the endemic KFD, rising environmental issues and the need for biodiversity conservation, there is pressure on national governments to abide by international environmental regulations. This pressure is reflected in the international recognition granted to the Western Ghats as a biodiversity hotspot and recognition of the local environment friendly agricultural practices such as soppina bettas. At the national level, it is reflected in the governmental recognition granted to local NGOs like Vanastree (for their work in organising the women’s seed collective) as well as the local-level recognitions granted to Vanastree and Manuvikasa by the Swarnvalli Matha. NGOs like Manuvikasa are funded by national as well as international funding agencies that are concentrating on local level efforts like pond and lake rejuvenation, women’s self-help groups, floriculture and so on.

In the larger context of agri-food production and the present worldwide spread of the coronavirus pandemic as well as the endemic KFD, what one needs to re-emphasise is to Think Locally and Act Locally. Emphasis must be on encouraging and cultivating the local knowledge systems. The spice garden agroforestry processes have been developed in this region over many years taking into consideration the climate, topography and the vegetation of the Malnad region. The local communities have developed sustainable farming practices and horticulture systems that are uniquely environment friendly. However, the conversion of paddy growing areas in the coastal regions, the Bayaluseeme (Eastward side) as well as some areas of the Malnad or up-ghat region into areca nut and spice gardens has led to a breakdown of the earlier systems of sustainable agroforestry and the self-sufficient economy of the region.

It is in this situation that the women’s initiatives at home kitchen garden agro-forestry stands out as a beacon of hope. It is these gendered agroforestry practices practised by the women in the forests of the Uttara Kannada Western Ghats that one can fall back on in times of a crisis like the present global crisis. These practices look after the everyday needs of the locals. The produce of the kitchen gardens may be low on exchange value, but it is high on use value. From a feminist political ecology perspective, it is important to note that women too can be creators, knowers and producers of knowledge. These agroforestry processes maintain the biodiversity of the region and at the same time provide for the needs of the locals in terms of vegetables, fruits and flowers (for sukha or pleasure/ happiness). The home garden agroforestry system seems to show the way in these beleagured times. By this, one does not mean to say that we should all shift to small-scale localism (Gray, 2020). It may not be possible anymore with increases in populations as well as aspirations. However, the hyperglobalism of the recent past is also something that may not be restored in a post-COVID world.